Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
There is nothing like seeing the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) fly near you, turning ever so slightly to reveal a flash of light under its throat. When this bird caught the right light on its gorget it was almost a blinding beam of red. Photographed for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Connecticut while on assignment for The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Sean Graesser RTPI Affiliate
Read MoreCommon Ravens
Common Ravens (Corvus corax) are known to be incredible fliers, soaring high in the sky and almost floating among the clouds, drifting and banking and turning and flipping with an endless array of aerial acrobatics. If you spend enough time hawk watching you will undoubtedly see them looking like a sizable raptor until fanning out that tail, showing off that bill and letting you hone in on that all black body. I watched these two Common Ravens interacting from afar as they dropped in altitude over a few minutes, croaking out their calls and interacting in every aerial maneuver one could...
Read MoreAmerican Lady Butterfly
Spring is slowly coming to Stratford Point with birds like the American Kestrel and Palm Warbler showing up in the last couple of days. Here’s an American Lady butterfly seen earlier today. We cannot wait until our gardens are full of birds, butterflies and more! It will be an exciting year.
Read MoreDay Moon
We tend to think of migration as a nightly event as we enter the spring – watching birds pass in front of the moon on a clear evening, catching them on radar, hearing flight calls in the darkness or finding new faces have joined us in our yards and patches when we wake up in the morning. While we often ignore the moon shining in the bright blue sky all day we also ignore the fact many birds are flying over us then, too. Yes, we see geese and certainly are aware of hawk watches and the many raptors that use thermals, but shorebirds might be migrating nonstop over the continent, while...
Read MoreStarry Sky
It can be very difficult to see many of the stars or much of the night sky in many parts of Connecticut with far too much light pollution surrounding us, but I liked this view from last night. Orion can be seen well to the lower left of center. Birds use the North Star, or Polaris at the moment, during migratory flights as it is in a fixed position. Thankfully it can be seen regardless for the millions upon millions of birds that will be moving up our coast soon. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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